Naval Academy Student From Rockaway Beach Among 7 Dead in Amtrak Derailment

A 20-year-old from Rockaway Beach has been identified as one of the seven people reportedly killed when an Amtrak train derailed in Pennsylvania Tuesday night.

Justin Zemser, a student at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, was returning home on Amtrak Northeast Regional Train 188 at the time of the crash, his mother told NBC 4 New York.

“The Naval Academy is deeply saddened to report that a midshipman was named as one of the passengers,” the academy said in a news release to the Capital-Gazette.

About noon Wednesday, Academy officials said on Twitter: “The @NavalAcademy is heartbroken to confirm that a #usna midshipman is among those who lost their lives in the#Amtrak188 derailment.”

Seven people have now been confirmed dead and authorities say another 146 people were injured in the derailment, which occurred around 9:30 p.m., in the Port Richmond section of Philadelphia. The train departed from Washington and was heading for New York’s Penn Station.

Reporting by Patch Staff

Photo: Screenshot from Channel 10 in Philadelphia